Vehicle park-aid systems are generally known and are commonly used for the purpose of assisting vehicle operators in parking a vehicle by alerting the operator of potential parking hazards. Typical park-aid systems include ultrasonic or camera systems. Ultrasonic systems can alert the vehicle operator of the distance between the vehicle and the closest particular object. However, ultrasonic systems do not recognize what the objects are, do not give the dimensions, and also fail to track multiple objects at the same time. Camera systems can present the vehicle operator with the view from behind the vehicle, however, camera systems do not provide the operator with the distance to the objects viewed, object dimensions, and do not differentiate whether or not the viewed objects are within the vehicle operator's field of interest.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a more advanced object detection and ranging method which can filter and process data provided by a three dimensional camera to provide an effective and comprehensive translation of object information to a vehicle operator.